There was a noticeably scarce amount of rangers at the guild that day than most other days. This was probably the reason why a particular someone noticed him the moment he stepped foot through the doors.

"Hey, Yakeru! Over here!" A familiar voice called out to him.

He turned to his left to see Kenji and, surprisingly, Fuyumi lounging at a table. He expected her to be off doing her own thing but that wasn't the case here. Perhaps she was warming up to their company.

'She did say she found us less annoying than others.' Yakeru rationalized.

He sluggishly made his way over to them, his arms dangling unnaturally as if they'd lost all strength. Kenji gave him a look of concern while Fuyumi's expression was more akin to confusion. He dragged a chair out from the table and sank into its seat, fatigue apparent on his face.

"Uhm, are you okay?" Kenji asked.

"I went shopping with Akari this morning...big mistake."

"I see. How's your leg?"

"A lot better, thanks. How about you, Fuyumi?"

"They're fine." She answered simply, resting her cheek in her palm.

"So did you guys find a mission to do already?" Yakeru wondered.

"Yeah, in fact we did. Or I did, more accurately."

Usually, it was the stoic dagger wielder who called the shots so having Kenji pick the mission struck Yakeru as a little strange.

"You let him pick?" He asked Fuyumi.

"He was already here when I arrived." She responded, seemingly indifferent.

"I see." His attention turned to the conjurer. "So what'd you pick?"

They were usually off risking their lives hunting monsters, courtesy of Fuyumi. Although he didn't know what mission they'd be doing, for some strange reason, he felt a slight wave of relief knowing Kenji had been the one to pick the mission.

"I thought we'd do something a little easier."

What were the odds? Just mere moments ago he'd promised his sister to take it easy so this worked perfectly. Not to mention her shopping spree took a toll on him.

"What kind of mission?"

"An investigation. Village residents in the inner rim have reported small tremors and toxic gas so they want rangers to check it out."

"Interesting."

Monsters from the inner rim were relatively weak so natural forces, such as storms and earthquakes, would typically scare them off. With this in mind, it was safe to assume there weren't going to be any encounters during this investigation. He couldn't tell if Fuyumi realized this or not since he didn't exactly sense dissatisfaction from her. He knew how much she despised monsters after all.

"And we're also going to be working with another party. A clan to be exact."

Fuyumi sighed the second he uttered the words 'Working with'. It wasn't a sigh of discontent but rather one filled with...conflict. She had a tendency to get grumpy when others were involved so he wasn't sure if he'd gotten the wrong impression.

This would also be the first time they've allied themselves with a clan. Yakeru's eyes sparkled with excitement when hearing this. The only interaction they've had with a clan, although brief, was during their time in Yama.

"Wait, a clan?! How did you manage that?"

"Well, they're a small clan and their leader is pretty laid back. I guess he didn't see a problem with letting us join them on the mission. He even said he'd get us the necessary artifacts for the mission while I waited for you guys."

Clans were groups of rangers bound together by contract. Those under contract earn a higher salary than freelancers and usually consist of more competent rangers. This in turn spawned the superiority mindset that most clan rangers adopted. Fortunately, according to Kenji, this wasn't going to be the case.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Oh, gotcha." Yakeru glanced over to Fuyumi who hadn't said much. "I assume you have a lot to say about this?"

"I'm fine with it, I guess." She responded with a trace of hesitance in her voice.

"..."

"..."

Yakeru stared at her in disbelief and judging from Kenji's shared expression, he hadn't anticipated her reaction either. The girl who had always insisted they take on missions by themselves wanted to ally herself with strangers? The thought of them sharing a table with an imposter gave them a colder chill than what Fuyumi's aura was capable of. Surely this wasn't the same girl they'd come to know...right?

"...Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Fuyumi?" Yakeru questioned the suspected doppelganger.

"Oh shut up." She huffed softly instead of hurling the insult at him.

From her response, he figured that she'd gotten quite comfortable with them. Or at least comfortable enough to lighten up a bit.

"Teaming up with that other group wasn't so bad in the end. So I'm willing to give it another shot, I guess." She explained but they could hear the reluctance in her voice.

Her two comrades didn't know what to make of this. This was a complete contrast to her usual callused self. Was it because she realized the importance of others after her near-death experience?

"W-Well, I suppose this would be a good opportunity to see how coordinated a clan team operates anyway." Kenji fumbled over his words, still stupefied by Fuyumi's response.

After giving his reasoning some thought, she nodded in response. Yakeru inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as they didn't have to butt heads trying to convince her to tag along this time.

They lounged for a time while Yakeru ordered a glass of water and regained his strength. After several minutes of small talk, he tipped the waitress and the group headed out to purchase supplies and continued to the mission area.

As Kenji's eyes traced over the mission sheet's details, they marched in the direction of the reported quakes and gas.

*****

Kiyoshi stood before six individuals all dressed in elegant attire seated at a table shaped like a semi-circle. The room was spacious enough to comfortably hold at least fifty people. The floor was made from marble with columns sprouting up evenly along the white walls.

Standing idly behind the individuals was another Sentinel, an upside-down war hammer standing upright beside his massive frame.

"A strange elixir you say?" One council member wanted to confirm, stroking his brown beard that concealed some of his wrinkles.

He wore a black vest and dress pants with a black and gold leather coat that hung from his shoulders.

"Yes." Sentinel Kiyoshi replied.

"And what makes this elixir stand out from the rest?" A councilman questioned, a glint reflecting in his rectangular glasses.

He crossed his arms over his white jacket, his black bowtie still visible on his collar.

"The artificer and elixir expert, Aki, has examined the sample and has come to the conclusion that the elixir is dangerous for human consumption. Though it shares similarities to enhancement elixirs, the side effects are potentially fatal."

Eyebrows rose as he explained Aki's findings in more detail. Murmurs filled the room as the council absorbed the new information on this unidentified substance.

For an elixir to be sold on the market, it must be verified by the capital. Over the years, distributors would alter the ingredients of their products, making them more addictive in a sneaky attempt to earn more profit. Nowadays you'd need to jump through legal hoops to verify the products are safe for the general public.

Though they've established a solid system to weed out 'bad products' it wasn't without its limits. This unidentified elixir was proof of that as it managed to slip under the capital's radar until now.

How long have they been manufacturing this?

How long has this elixir gone undetected?

Even the Sentinel standing guard seemed intrigued as his eyes drifted up to a corner of the room, allowing this information to marinate.

"With the council's blessing, I'd like to conduct an official investigation." Kiyoshi resumed.

The councilmen glanced at one another as if they could sense each other's thoughts. A member wearing a blue suit with white feathers sprouting from his collar rested his hands on the semi-circle table, his fingers interlocked with each other.

"An elixir that poses a threat to its consumer. Who knows what'll happen if we allow this to continue."

Enhancement elixirs were rather common among rangers. If word got out that a new type of elixir was being distributed, one far stronger, two possible scenarios would occur: There'd be mass deaths and the survivors would possibly go rampant.

What if those obsessed with power were to discover this elixir? The capital would have its hands full with countless rampant Rippers as if one wasn't bad enough.

"We have no information on when production began. If this has been in production for a while, we may be dealing with a small underground group. Otherwise, we would've received word of this elixir's existence earlier."

"Aki is widely considered to be the best analyst. If what she claims holds true, the capital must step in."

"I concur."

"Aye."

"Aye."

The council collectively agreed with one another and turned back to the Sentinel who stood silently before them, his hands tucked behind his back.

"Very well," the brown-bearded councilman nodded. "You shall conduct a thorough investigation on this matter and report to us periodically on your findings."

"I will uncover who the distributor is and why it's being manufactured," Kiyoshi bowed deeply. "You have my word."

After being dismissed, he walked out of the room with new determination. Although, something had been lingering in the back of his mind since he was dismissed.

'Could an underground organization truly be behind this?'

If so, he could only imagine them causing more harm than good. Whatever the distributor's intentions, the fact was these elixirs were dangerous. Selfish desires were the standard motive of many criminals so he could assume they were no different. Even if it was at the expense of others.

'Regardless, justice has a way of weeding out criminals.'

The only lead he had was the rangers who found it to begin with. No one had any business owning an enhancement elixir on that mountain unless you were a ranger. With this in mind, the guild would be a good starting place to fish out the culprits who were in possession of it.